St. Louis-based Centene saw net earnings rebound from a $16 million loss in the first quarter of 2016 to a $139 million surplus in the first quarter of this year.
The managed care company's revenue also increased 68.6 percent in the first quarter of this year to $11.7 million, up from $7 million in the first quarter of 2016. Centene primarily attributed the jump in total revenue to its acquisition of Woodland Hills, Calif.-based Health Net, in addition to other program expansions in 2016 and 2017 and growth in the 2017 ACA marketplace.
After Centene released its first quarter results, it committed to offering health plans on the exchanges for 2018.
"Whether the ACA remains the law of the land or a repeal and replace bill comes to fruition, Centene is well-positioned," Centene Chairman, President and CEO Michael Neidorff said during an earnings call with investors Tuesday. "Regarding Medicaid, any changes that give additional flexibility to the states aligns nicely with Centene's local decentralized approach. As to exchanges, we see nothing at this point to prevent us from proceeding with our 2018 marketplace participation," St. Louis Business Journal reports.
As of March 31, Centene served 1.2 million members through its individual marketplace business, an increase of 500,000 from the first quarter of 2016. The payer also had a managed care membership of 12.1 million, up 5 percent from the same period last year.